With a Master of Art Curatorship from The University of Melbourne, Hannah Mathews has worked with a wide range of organisations including the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Monash University Museum of Art and the Biennale of Sydney. Currently Curator at Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, she recently completed a curatorial internship with Creative Time, New York and participated in the Rapt! 20 contemporary artists from Japan project. Mathews returned to Japan to work with Arts Initiative Tokyo and Art Front Gallery to develop alternative models for presenting art projects.

Funded by Arts WA

Producer/curator Jane Hindson operates across sound/media art and new music, as well as artist management, publicity/project coordination and workshop presentation. She has worked with major new music festivals within Australia and has spent much time in Japan, most recently co-curating View Masters - Remix, a hybrid sound and visual art project (see Japan Visual Arts Program story overleaf). Hindson’s residency sees her placed at the 2007 Tokyo Performing Arts Market where she will assist with coordination of the music/sound art program and facilitate communication between international and Japanese artists. (Supported by the Australia Council and Arts Victoria)

Andrea Kleist combines a theoretical background with diverse art practice. Prior to managing the City of Melbourne's Public Art Program she was Exhibitions Manager at ACMI, Executive Officer, Visual Arts Program at the 1998 and 2000 Adelaide Festivals and has enjoyed a long standing relationship with the International Film Festival Berlin.  In Japan Kleist worked with Art Front Gallery's Artistic Director, Fram Kitagawa, toward the realisation of the 3rd Echigo-Tsumari Triennial.  The residency enabled her to gain insight into the conceptual development and actual staging of the Triennial, a large-scale international and multi-layered event in regional Japan.  Kleist assisted the organisers throughout the event, specifically in the areas of promotion and audience liaison.

Funded by the Australia Council.

Dr Philip Samartzis is coordinator and senior lecturer in Sound within the RMIT School of Art. He has organized three Immersion festivals focusing on the theory and practice of sound spatialisation, as well as Variable Resistance - a series of international sound art presentations for the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Podewil Arts Center, Berlin. During his time with Musashino Art University, Samartzis conducted research into Japanese sound art and experimental music and received invitations to perform, record and exhibit.  Key outcomes included invitations to curate sound art projects for four key organisations: Kawasaki City Museum, Inter Communication Centre, Shinohara Fine Art and Artecnico.

Funded by the Australia Council.

At the time of her residency Sophie O’Brien was the Project Manager for the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2005, and was previously Exhibition Manager at the Biennale of Sydney and Managing Curator for the Visual Arts Program at the Perth International Arts Festival.  O'Brien undertook a residency based at the Arts Initiative Tokyo, where she researched contemporary Japanese art, investigated alternative curatorial and exhibition models and initiated discussions with several key Japanese curators in order to realise future exhibitions.  Whilst there O’Brien presented a talk on Australian contemporary artists in conjunction with a small postcard and catalogue exhibition.  She has also been invited to work as a project manager on the Singapore Biennale with curator Fumio Nanjo.

Funded by the Australia Council.

Liz Hughes has a long history of working in film and digital media.  As Artistic Director of Experimenta, Hughes has curated and co-curated a number of ambitious exhibitions which have toured nationally, attracting massive audiences and extensive media coverage.  Hughes' residency was split between two organisations, Arts Initiatives in Tokyo and the Seoul Museum of Art in Korea.  Her time in Korea was spent primarily curating and installing the 3rd Seoul International Media Art Biennale.  Through meetings with Korean artists and curators, Hughes has identified Korean artists and a curator for Experimenta's Vanishing Point exhibition in Melbourne in 2005, which will tour Australia and internationally.  In Japan, Hughes undertook research into Japanese artists, venues and curatorial practice.

Funded by Arts Victoria and the Australia-Korea Foundation.

Tory Loudon was Producer at the Sydney Opera House at the time of her residency.  In Japan she was hosted by Conversation and Co, a major producer and presenter of Japanese and international performing arts.  Loudon was introduced to many Japanese contemporary dance artists and companies as well as major presenters and producers.  She maintains contact with key Japanese presenters and continues to discuss presentation opportunities and collaborative projects between Australia and Japan.

Funded by the NSW Ministry for the Arts and the Australia Council.

Amanda Card’s residency was hosted by the Japan Contemporary Dance Network and was part of the Australia Japan Arts Network (AJAN), a program for senior arts managers to develop ongoing networks between key organisations in Australia and Japan.

Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade in partnership with the Australia Council.

Sally Couacaud is a curator and project manager and former Curator of the Sydney Open Museum where she commissioned and managed the City of Sydney's public art collection, including the Sculpture Walk.  Based at the Art Front Gallery in Tokyo, well known for its commissioning of site-specific art works and the close collaboration between artists, town planners and architects, Couacaud spent the three months of her residency working on a number of projects including the Echigo-Tsumari Triennial.

Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade in partnership with the Australia Council. 

Rhana Devenport has worked extensively in the area of contemporary Asian arts as Senior Project Officer with the Queensland Art Gallery’s Second and Third Asia-Pacific Triennials. In 1997 she curated the exhibition Contemporary Vessels and Jewels: Australian Fine Metalwork for the new Shanghai Museum and Regional Queensland venues. Hosted by the Fukuoka Asian Arts Museum, Devenport’s residency focus was on major recurring contemporary Asian art events such as the Fukuoka Trienniale and also on the curating and collecting of Japanese art. 

Funded by Arts Queensland and the Australia Council.

Keiko Aoki was born in Japan and studied TV and film production in the USA. Since moving to Australia she has worked in the area of film, TV and various Japanese-Australian collaborations such as The Floating World for the Melbourne International Festival, and the Greenmill World Dance Alliance. Aoki has set up the Global Japan Network to promote cross-cultural exchange between Japan and Australia. During her residency she worked with Tadashi Suzuki on the second Theatre Olympics in Shizuoka and toured Japan with three international companies.

Funded by the City of Melbourne and the Australia Council.

Michael Snelling's residency was hosted by The Fukuoka Art Museum and was part of the Australia Japan Arts Network (AJAN), a program for senior arts managers to develop ongoing networks between key organisations in Australia and Japan.

Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade in partnership with the Australia Council.

The Australia Japan Arts Network was a program for Senior Arts Managers to develop ongoing networks between key organisations in Australia and Japan. At the time of her residency Cate Fowler was the Artistic Director of Windmill Performing Arts Company in Adelaide. Her residency that was based with Gekidan Urinko Theatre Troupe, has resulted in numerous cultural exchange initiatives. She has brought out Theatre Kazenoko to tour Melbourne and Regional Queensland and facilitated the visit by 27 members of Kyushu Kodomo Gekijo groups (audience development for children's works) to the Out of the Box Festival in Brisbane.

Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade and the Australia Council.

Sarah Miller is a producer, curator, teacher, and artistic and executive director across the visual, performing, hybrid and new media arts. Her residency which was hosted by Spiral, Wacoal Arts Centre, Tokyo, was part of the Australia Japan Arts Network (AJAN), a program for senior arts managers to

Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade in partnership with the Australia Council.

At the time of her residency, Anne Farren was Project Manager, Textile Exchange Project; Community Arts Officer, City of Melville.  Farren helped establish the Textile Exchange Project with the aim of encouraging the development of opportunities for Western Australian fibre and textile artists with a focus on creating links with the Japanese textile industry.  In 1995, she was  appointed to the position of Community Arts Officer for the City of Melville, as well as being elected as the inaugural chairperson of the Western Australian Fibre & Textile Association.  Along with these responsibilities, Anne continued her work as Project Officer for the Textile Exchange Project.

Funded by the Australia Council.

Formerly of production company Reckless Moments, Jodi Glass spent three months at the Setagaya Public Theatre, Tokyo.

Funded by the Australia Council and Arts South Australia.